The battlefield was a canvas of divine blood and broken sky.
Luo Feng fought back-to-back with Varkus, their combined storm of Eclipse VE and lightning turning Pantheon enforcers to ash. But the tide was turning—more angels descended, their wings blotting out the sun.
Then the claw-mark exploded in agony.
Golden fire erupted down Luo Feng's arm, searing through muscle and bone as the Nine-Tails' power wrenched control from him. His vision blurred—
—and suddenly, he was watching from behind his own eyes as another consciousness took the wheel.
"Pathetic," his own mouth sneered in the Nine-Tails' voice.
Then she moved.
[The Goddess Awakens: A Flash of Jiuying]
What followed wasn't battle.
It was art.
The Nine-Tails wielded Luo Feng's body like a brush, painting destruction in strokes too elegant to comprehend:
First Tail: A whip of starlight that unmade celestial armor.
Fifth Tail: A scream that shattered enforcer wings like glass.
Ninth Tail: A single step that bent spacetime, folding angels into their own spears.
Varkus stared, lightning frozen between his fingers. "…Okay, that's terrifying."
Then—
A flicker. A stumble.
For half a heartbeat, Luo Feng's eyes cleared, the gold fading to familiar brown.
"Feng!" Xiao Jiuying's voice, raw and desperate. "The nails—they're not just seals. They're—"
The Nine-Tails snarled, regaining control. "Silence, fragment."
But the damage was done.
[The Revelation: Nails as Anchors]
The Nine-Tails didn't kill the last enforcer.
She pulled the celestial being close, her voice a lover's whisper.
"Tell your masters this: their cage is cracking."
Then she bit the enforcer's throat out—not for blood, but for the memory in its veins.
The vision slammed into Luo Feng:
The God-Sealing Nails weren't just suppressing the Nine-Tails.
They were pinning reality itself in place.
And the Void Emperor had known all along.
The Nine-Tails laughed with Luo Feng's mouth. "Oh, little Storm Lord. You really thought you were the hero?"
Then she was gone, receding like a tide, leaving Luo Feng gasping on his knees.
The claw-mark now covered half his chest.
[Claw-Mark Evolution: 85%]
[Warning: Full Integration Imminent]
[Check-In Complete (Temporary Reprieve)]
[Reward: Nine-Tails' Power (Borrowed)]
[Penalty: Xiao Jiuying's Consciousness Fading]
Varkus hauled Luo Feng up, his lightning mixing uneasily with the claw-mark's gold.
"We need to find those nails. Before she does."
Somewhere, in the depths of Luo Feng's mind, the Fox Spirit's voice whispered:
"Too late."
END OF THE CHAPTER38